Flashing BIOS Without Windows

This really should have been covered on the main download page for the BIOS update. I'm trying to update my BIOS on a Yoga 2 Pro but alas Lenovo has made BIOS updates OS dependant. Here I am used to just going to the BIOS putting the .img file on a usb stick and select flash. That would be too easy and I'm sure confused alot of Windows users. The problem I am having first of all is I cannot find a changelog file. Why would I want to flash something that I have no idea what it does? I need to know what I'm flashing first. The second problem is I cannot even extract the downloaded .exe file, its not a .cab, .zip or .rar. If I could extract it, all I should need to do is make a bootable usb with the .img file right? Anyone in Lenovo support whatching this thread?
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Answering my own question here but here is a solution. Download this Windows 8.1 live usb/cd:
http://windowsmatters.com/2013/04/30/windows-8-based-pe-boot-disk-with-explorer-shell-and-all-my-fav...
I'm using a Yoga 2 Pro and it was kind of picky how the usb was "burned" was unable to use dd and or suse studio image writer had to use rufus on a windows box choosing gpt for uefi with 4096 block size. Then I just ran the exe. Something Lenovo tech support should know about.

Similar Messages

Flashing C365 BIOS Without Windows on HD

Hello, just bought me a new C365. Didn't want this WinBingThing. First thing I did was make a backup of the HD with dd. Then wiped away everything to install Debian Jessie. Everything is fine, it works.
But now I'm concerned about how to update the bios. I really don't want to put the image back to HD just for flashing the bios.
Someone found a way, but it would involve using third party software:
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Linux-Discussion/Flashing-BIOS-Without-Windows/m-p/1700535
I found a new bios for my system:
http://support.lenovo.com/de/de/products/desktops-and-all-in-ones/lenovo-c-series-all-in-ones/lenovo...
I found an image of an ISO for to flash another system. Of course I woudn't take the BIOS-Image from that ISO:
http://support.lenovo.com/en/downloads/ds009477
So my question: Is that ISO-Image suitable to flash my BIOS, if I add the BIOS to the given ISO?
Other questions: Why can't I find any BIOS-changelogs on the C365-BIOS page? Would it be possible to provide BIOS-Flash-ISO-Images for C365?
Thanks a lot!

Answering my own question here but here is a solution. Download this Windows 8.1 live usb/cd:
http://windowsmatters.com/2013/04/30/windows-8-based-pe-boot-disk-with-explorer-shell-and-all-my-fav...
I'm using a Yoga 2 Pro and it was kind of picky how the usb was "burned" was unable to use dd and or suse studio image writer had to use rufus on a windows box choosing gpt for uefi with 4096 block size. Then I just ran the exe. Something Lenovo tech support should know about.

How can i flash bios without floppy drive

i need help with flashing bios without a floppy because although the floppy is in windows and the bios every time i try to use it, it says to insert a disc i have seek floopy enabled and it post as if it is ok the drive works i have tried 2 drives 2 cables and turned the cables round tried all i can i think lol ....
thanks guys

it can also be done using a CD-rom. I flashed my BIOS twice using cd-rom. Use Nero or any cd-writing program to write the bios files you download to a CD. Afterwards, just use the Windows 98 installation cd to boot into DOS, then take out the Windows 98 CD and put in the CD with the BIOS files on it and run the program just like from a floppy.

Flashing BIOS without floppy?

Recently, I've flashed my 875P BIOS from 1.7 to 1.8 & am unhappy with the performance from the new BIOS. I would like to reflash it back to 1.7, but my floppy drive is no longer working properly & will not read data correctly from floppy disks. Is there a safe way to flash BIOS without using a floppy disk, such as through Windows? I've looked at LiveUpdate 3, but it only shows the current BIOS 1.8 that I can update from. Replies are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks for the quick reply, DOS. I've figured out another way by putting the three files from LiveUpdate(MSISetup, AMIFlh, IftwInst.Tag) & 1.7 BIOS file together in a folder & flashed in Windows from there by clicking on MSISetup. The three files mentioned are always included during the LiveUpdate download along with a BIOS file for whatever version. Just make sure to remove the BIOS file you don't want & put in the one you do want along with the three files mentioned. Honestly, I held my breath during the flash process, but I'm glad it went okay without a hitch. So, for those who feel comfortable flashing in Windows(or DOS, since you have a choice during the flash process) to whatever BIOS version, this is an easy way of doing it. I don't know if this is good enough for a sticky since I know others are looking for ways of flashing there BIOS. Good luck! :D

Flash BIOS without display?

Hey All,
How can I flash BIOS for the K8N Master2-FAR MS-9620 (v1.X) without display/ post?
Is there USB flash drive option?
Thanksin advance

nope
you have to take out the BIOS,
and to program it with desired BIOS image with programmer

FYI: Flash BIOS without using a floppy! Use a bootable CD-ROM!

My K8N Neo2 Platinum is still dead as a doornail but at least I found this.
http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/
I was able to make a bootable CD-ROM containing the latest BIOS and flash it without using those pesky floppy drives/disks. Whole process took like 5 mins. I don't know who Bart is but hats off to him in a huge way!
Hope this helps someone!

Quote
Originally posted by Supershanks
Deeez,
Quote
but these floppies realy suck lately
sorry you lost me
you got a bad box of floppies
No, im serious. I have 4 computers here and a ton of floppys, my camera uses floppies so im using them alot "when they work" but these damn things are terrible.
I can have one disk work on all 4 pc's, bring it to another place not work at all, have another not work on all my computers but work somewhere else. All different brands of floppies all different brand of Floppy drives. I have a better chance winning the lottery then getting this floppys to work right. LOL

Flashing BIOS in Windows 7, without USB drive

any way to setup a cd/dvd boot drive to flash the bios? or is there a windows 7 program that will flash it?

in windows 7 what you can do if you have Nero is create a bootable CD using nero , then copy the unzipped bios files to the CD, boot to CD , then change drives to your CD drive (it will be one letter lower than in the OS) then execute the command to flash from there

Flashing BIOS without Floppy drive

I have a Pavilion zt1185 running windows xp pro which doesn't have a floppy drive. I'm am trying to flash the bios is there a way this could be done without getting a floppy drive. I have tried using the usb but will not lookup usb on startup.

Hi:
As far as I know, regarding a notebook of that vintage you will need a floppy drive to update the BIOS.
More than likely a USB floppy drive will work.
Paul

Flash BIOS without MSWINDOWS

I want/need to flash the BIOS on a HP 2000-210US. HP will not help because I do not use an MSWINDOWS O.S. How do I go about the "flash" without HP support? Also, if I may, I'm having a problem with booting from either the pendrive or CD. I know how to set BIOS to boot from either device, both devices are "bootable", yet laptop will not boot with/from either device. I've been trying to find an answer/fix to this for quite some time. HELP!!!! Thank You
Rick

nope
you have to take out the BIOS,
and to program it with desired BIOS image with programmer

Is it possible to upgrade BIOS without Windows installed - Satellie L30

I don't have WIndows installed on my Toshiba Satellite PSL33E. Does it possible to create boot CD to upgrade BIOS on my notebook ?

This is only possible if you would have an Toshiba traditional BIOS update version.
But the point is that Toshiba European driver page DOESNT provide such BIOS.
Theres only a windows based BIOS which means that you can update it only from running Windows OS.
Sorry, dont think that you could do this. Oohhh wait maybe the ASP in your country could help you. Maybe the authorized service provider can update it using a floppy disk.
Greets

Flashing BIOS without a compatible CPU

Hi there,
I have no idea where to find an answer for this as I've seen all sorts of conflicting information out there. I want to know, if I get an H81M-P33 motherboard and a g3258, will I need to use a compatible older-gen CPU to update the BIOS and make the board compatible with the g3258, or can I use MFlash or the forum BIOS flashing utility to update the BIOS from a USB with no compatible CPU installed? Also, as a side note, I noticed in another thread someone was saying that Intel released firmware in August that would make it difficult or impossible to overclock the G3258 on non-Z series motherboards. I did also see that Tom's Hardware article where they successfully used the H81M-P33 to overclock it back in July when it was released. Am I running a large risk of it not working even after I update to the latest BIOS, or is it still possible?
Thanks for your help, I really hope I've posted in the right place.

Okay, thank you very much! Most of the threads I found when searching were from really long ago on all these different sites, so I wasn't sure if something had changed. I appreciate your quick response and I'll look into it further before I make a purchase.

BIOS recovery without windows

Hello,
first of all, I'm french so my english may not be perfect, sorry about that.
I have a problem with my Compaq Mini 110c 1030sf : a BIOS update went wrong, and windows won't boot anymore (neither XP, nor Se7en). Linux does though.
The problem is HP provides .exe BIOS files that can't run in DOS mode, but only in Windows... which of course is embarassing, as the reason I want to flash my BIOS is that Windows won't boot.
If anyone has a solution to update HP BIOS without WIndows (using a bootable disk or even Linux), I would really be grateful !

Hi:
I have extracted and zipped just the BIOS flash file .exe. Perhaps you can use it either in DOS or Linux on a bootable CD:
I don't know if this file also has to be run in Windows, but perhaps not.
Paul
Attachments:
308F0F19.zip ‏830 KB

Need to Flash BIOS on 3000 N100 (0768-04U)

System will not boot to Windows (Vista) which is what came on this PC. Current BIOS version installed is 63ET62WW which is v1.08. How can I flash it without windows? I want to flash to 63af08us which I believe is v3.12.
I've tried using the Start Up Recovery disk and it takes about 2.5 - 3 hrs to load disk 1 but it never comes back and asks for disk 2 or 3 which I have. Using Rescue and Recovery Version 4.
This pc is for a friend of mine who is home for 28 days from Iraq and I need to get it fixed before he goes back.
Please help if you can.
Thanks

Ah....now I understand your dilemma.
Your behavioral description would make me think generic drive corruption or malware.
Sounds like you're thinking along the same lines and were going for a 'nuke and repave' strategy.
I'm wondering if the problem with the 3rd party util may be that, like XP, they lack sata awareness on their own without loading a driver first, as XP does via the F6 option.
How is the drive controller set in the bios?
If it's set to sata, you could try setting it to ahci instead, then see if you can delete partitions.
I'm less than optimistic though, since I would assume that the restore disks would have this functionality natively.
I had a similar issue recently with a desktop.
After nuking the partitions, I still couldn't get through an XP install.
It would huff and puff, start being unable to find files on pristine cd, and eventually choke.
At that point I started stripping cards and devices out of the box to no avail.
Finally grabbed a linux disk and ran mem test.
To my joy, it started spewing massive errors.
Replaced the faulty mem module and all was well.
With a laptop, there isn't much to yank, but have you tried tossing a different drive in as a test?
If you put another drive in, have the bios set to ahci, and boot from an xp disk and it still glitches, then that at least eliminates malware as the boot culprit.
My local shop has notebook sata drives from $60 on up, so if you can't borrow one from work, it would at least be an inexpensive part.
I know NC is also a tech hub, so you probably have similar prices there.
I mentioned removing the nic as an option because I wasn't sure why you wanted to flash, and the readme for the bios update does reference a potential no-boot situation caused by a broadcom wifi chipset. I figure this is unlikely to be your issue though, as I would have expect such a problem to be either sporadic, or to have existed out of the box.
While it's internal to the laptop, it's a mini-pci card and is removable, though I don't recommend it without specific justification.
Removing the card is fine - but I've seen a lot of people screw up the little hirose connectors that attach the antenna leads to the card. They just aren't made for repeated insertions, though they'll do fine a few times if you're careful. If you want to try that, just be careful, and leaves the wires attached to the card when removing it. There isn't a lot of play in the leads, but there should be enough to get the card out of the slot.
Bios corruption is pretty rare, but anything can happen.
[Oh, another thought. You could slap the notebook drive in an external usb enclosure ($15-20 part), attach it to another pc, and the run utils on it to check the health of the drive.]
Message Edited by zombiwulf on 07-30-2008 04:25 AM

N500 won't boot windows xp after flashing BIOS

Hi, I purchased an N500 a couple weeks ago, it's been running fine on xp, except occassionally I'd get disconnected from the internet (a line problem, not the computer, happens here in egypt) but the wireless would not automatically reconnect to my line once the line was back up. The log file for the wireless card said something like "unable to set proper band" when this happened. Anyway my driver version was the latest version, so I thought maybe I needed to update bios. So I flashed bios using the flashbios utility that is listed on the lenovo website in the download section dedicated to my laptop model. The laptop then restarted itself, and then I got the black screen that says "We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start correctly...." blah blah blah.with options to start up in safe mode, last known configuration that worked etc. However when I choose ANY of these options about 3 seconds later I get the blue screen of death, and the computer restarts! So how do I get myself out of this mess! Thanks Lenovo for that great Flash utility by the way!!

Try reinstall the OS. I hope it works. My opinion is when you update BIOS, The OS detected as a new computer (for some pcs). Try repair The OS with boot from CD.
Good Luck,....

Thinkpad T440 BIOS update without Windows Utility - problem

So I wanted to update my BIOS from 2.23 to 2.30 from here - http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds035967. First think's first - my T440 does not have any CD/DVD, so obviously I need a bootable USB to update my BIOS. Second, I'm using Ubuntu and no longer have (or want to have) the Windows installation.
In order to make a bootable USB with the BIOS iso file I tried 2 things:
1) Tried following this guide - httpawww.lenzg.net/archives/358-Updating-the-BIOS-on-my-ThinkPad-T440-without-Windows-or-a-DVD-Drive.html, everything seems to be have worked, except the fact that it does not boot when I try to boot trough the USB, and I bumped there.
2) Open a Windows on my second laptop and try to make a bootable USB from Windows (maybe it will help?). Tried both the standard Windows USB DVD Tool and got the error - "The selected file is not a valid ISO file. Please select a valid ISO file and try again." Fair enough, here I started to get suspisous that something is wrong. I tried and burned a bootable USB with PowerISO, but again as method 1) it does not boot.
Just to mention that in my BIOS I have the Secure Boot off and both the Legacy mode and UEFI, with Legacy first.
Any ideas how to proceed?

Sorry, I don't know about Linux much less then nothing.
But I'm sure there are the following tools for:
- disk/partition management, to make primary partition on the stick as active, to be bootable
- mount .iso image as a virtual CD to explore that one and get its content. Or, perhaps, there is .iso content viewer that supports CDFS.
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Flashing BIOS Without Windows

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